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How To: A Collection of Undocumented Features and TAW Idiosyncrasies
General Section made for "good to know" information that is not always obvious. Skins There are four skins for the F-22: Egyptian, Saudi, and two USAF skins. Of these, the USAF skins are selectable in the Options menu. In the ADF and the original TAW, the first USAF Skin (Camo 3 for modders) is the paintscheme of the YF-22 prototype, while the second USAF Skin (Camo 4) is the "USAF PAC West" (i.e. tactical) pattern. In ADF and TAW, the player can fly any of the four F-22s, depending on the mission or campaign. For example, the "Prelude" mission in ADF's "Red Sea" tour has the player flying as an Egyptian, while the "Arabian Sword" mission in the same tour has the player flying for the Saudis. Likewise, the player can also fly for the USAF, which is normally the case in missions. Here's where it gets interesting: If you select Camo 4 (i.e. the tactical pattern), then you will see this pattern while flying for the USAF (as expected), and you will see the default Egyptian and Saudi patterns respectively if the mission has you flying for the other nations. However, if you select Camo 3 (YF-22 pattern), then you will see the YF-22 skin for your aircraft regardless of the nation for whom you are flying. This is not just in ADF; this idiosyncrasy occurs in TAW dynamic campaigns as well. Wingmen will always fly with the default camo (e.g. Egyptian, Saudi, or USAF Camo 4). Navigation Lights Navigation lights are turned on by selecting Channel 1 or 4 on the radio, and turned off by selecting Channel 2 or 3. The apparent logic of this feature is that nav lights are commonly used near the airfield (i.e. terminal area) and during mid-air refuelling. Likewise, nav lights are normally secured during tactical operations in order to minimize the probabily of visual acquisition by the enemy Note: in real life, formation lights are used at night in lieu of nav lights so that aircraft in the same package can see each other. Formation lights are not visible at range, which makes them more tactical than nav lights. Since Channel 1 is the Airfield frequency and Channel 4 is the dedicated Air-Refuelling frequency, nav lights are more likely to be on when these frequencies are used. Likewise, since Channels 2 and 3 are the AWACS/Tactical channels, nav lights are more likely to be secured when these channels are in use. Unresponsive AI Wingmen Sometimes while taxiing in a single player mission, your AI wingmen do not taxi with you, or stop taxiing as soon as you get to the runway. This is often the case in TAWBC missions designed for multiplayer but played in single player. There are two ways to fix this. The simplest and most reliable way is to select Time Skip (Shift+s), which should put you on the runway with your wingmen set for a formation takeoff. The other way if you manually taxi is to call for your wingmen to Disengage once you are airborne (TAB -> 7). This will force your wingmen to take off in order to join your formation. Note that the likelihood exists of your wingmen crashing on takeoff, depending on where they are on the taxiway. Shift+s is the recommended solution to this issue. Avionics Most of the avionics is fairly self explanatory, but there are certain details that one must really dig into the manual for, and other details that are the result of mods and enhancements. This section addresses these features. Heads Up Display (HUD) from TAW 2008 and TAW 2.0 The following diagram displays the functionality and placement of the data in the modified HUD for the latest total conversions of Total Air War. The Waypoint Carets You may have noticed that there are two waypoint carets above and below the heading tape on the HUD. The bottom caret is self explanatory; putting this caret in the center of the heading tape will take you to your next waypoint. The caret on top, however, is not so obvious. We should start first with what the top caret is not: the top caret is not a CDI, nor is it a desired heading to intersect track. The top caret is simply the desired course to the next waypoint, which remains a constant course based on the heading between two waypoints. Your own aircraft heading or position have no effect on this value. For example, if you are heading to Waypoint 4, then the desired course represents the direction of a line drawn from Waypoint 3 to Waypoint 4. Note that your own plane's position has nothing to do with this caret; if you place the top caret in the middle of the heading tape, then all you can guarantee is that you are running a parallel heading to your desired course. Of course, the top caret has value when used with the bottom (waypoint) caret and the Situation Display (the center MFD). For example, you may need to not only go to a specific waypoint, but you may also need to follow a specific route to get there in order to avoid threats. The bottom caret only tells you how to get to your next waypoint; if you're off course and you point directly to your next waypoint, you may in fact fly directly over that ZSU-23-4 site you were trying to avoid in the first place! However, if you match up both the top and bottom carets in the center of the heading tape, then you know that you are both on course as well as headed in the right direction. Attack Display Multiplayer The following Articles provide a primer on how to join or host multiplayer sessions in Total Air War: Hosting a Multiplayer Session Joining a Multiplayer Session In a multiplayer session, the host is always the flight leader. Other aircraft are assigned to players in the order which they select "OK" on the weapon selection screen (the screen immediately prior to entering the game). This order follows the order specified in the mission's KDL file. Host/Flight Lead Responsibilities The host, as flight lead, has primary navigation and communication responsibilities. This means that if all multiplayer participants are in the same flight, the host is the only aircraft that may initiate communication with airfields, AWACS, the Tanker, and other clients/aircraft (this does not include chat). Likewise, the host has the responsibility of selecting the proper waypoint, which will be the active waypoint for all clients/aircraft in the flight. Finally, if the host communicates with an airfield, that airfield becomes the active airfield for the rest of the flight. If there are multiple flights available (i.e. an 8 player mission), then each flight lead has communication and navigation responsibilities. This is the only way a client can be primary for navigation and communication. Mid-Air Refuelling in Multiplayer There is one notable exception to the host being the communicator for the flight, and that is when a member of the flight other than the host needs to tank with the KC-135. The host is still responsible for initiating contact with the tanker and requesting refuelling. However, once the tanker tells the flight lead "Affirmative, weapons and nose cold", the client that needs the gas presses the "Y" key. The tanker will then clear the client in for pre-contact (i.e. you may see something like "Wolf5 TWO Cleared for Pre-Contact". Unfortunately, aircraft other than the host can get into position and be cleared for contact, but cannot connect. I would love to find a way to fix this. Avionics In some cases, the avionics in multiplayer operate differently than they do in single player mode. This section captures these differences. Autopilot The autopilot MFD interface is fully functional in multiplayer, with the exception of the AUTO/MANUAL toggle button. The autopilot must be engaged and disengaged by using the "A" key. This applies to client and server alike. Tactics The Paradox Tactic Discovered by Nick "Paradox" Parker during the Infogrames' message board tactical meetings, the Paradox tactic is a time honored means of winning dynamic campaigns in TAW. The tactic acts as a workaround to the AI, which can be clueless both in the cockpit and in the operational control of the campaign. The whole concept of the Paradox tactic is to get a whole bunch of F-22s in the air, launch an AWACS mission, then jump into the F-22s when the situation starts to heat up. Bottom line: as long as you don't care what your failure rate looks like on your mission log, this is a great way to do it. The following was taken from the SimHQ forum: #Start a campaign, let's say...Thin line. #Select a Strike/Wild Weasel/BAI flight in your mission roster, put Raptors on Escort and Strike role as much as possible (I usually put just 2 F-22 on strike and 4 on escort), and fit them with full payload. #Initiate the mission, strap your seatbelts, close the canopy, go to EMCON 5 and ask the tower for your Takeoff time. Wait until the speech line goes away and the press SHIFT + Q then E to exit the mission. #Your mission is failed, so you will have no points for that mission, ( Keep reading, here comes the surprise...) #Repeat the method for every F-22 Strike/BAI/WW flight in your roster. ( Actually, on my machine after 7 flights " launched" I will expect a crash, so keep it down to around 5 Strike/WW/BAI and 2 CAP's). #After 10 minutes of this work you you jump on that AWACS waiting on the TARMAC. (shh !!keep reading) #After a while you will see that ALL the flights you've edited are taking off !! (you can write down their takeoff times) #Now you have an AWACS that can control up to 8 F22 flights !! So give them enough cover, and jump into the planes when they are 2 minutes away from their targets. This is VERY effective ! This way you miss the boring side of a mission and you can actually control the skies !!! Hope this will add some fun to your battles !!